Your Take on Collecting ONLY from One Grading Company?

[astrostu]

Something that annoys me about third-party graders (PCGS, NGC, ICG, ANACS) is that the slabs between the companies are different. They look different, and they don't stack together. Especially the stacking issue.

 

I know that the mantra is "Buy the coin, not the slab," but how do you deal with the situation where the slabs won't stack? I store my slabs on a shelf, a given series in a given stack in year/mint order, and I'm afraid that if I stray between companies instead of sticking with one that the series will lose cohesiveness.

 

I'm curious as to how other people deal with this. Is this just an instance of my OCD really limiting me and I should just suck it up? Is there a practical solution that I've overlooked? Or do other people do the same thing?

[Just Bob]

I personally like the Whitman slab storage boxes. They are padded, so the slabs don't rattle, and they will hold all of the larger type slabs. The older NGC "fatties" are a pretty tight fit, though.

[TJ'S Coins]

I use Intercept Shield red cardboard boxes and the various slabs fit well in them. It may not be the "best" solution but works for me.

[Dwaine]

I like useing the NGC slab boxes as they will hold most type of slabs. I can fit PCGS, NGC, ANACS, and ICG holder in them.

[MarkFeld]

Something that annoys me about third-party graders (PCGS, NGC, ICG, ANACS) is that the slabs between the companies are different. They look different, and they don't stack together. Especially the stacking issue.

 

I know that the mantra is "Buy the coin, not the slab," but how do you deal with the situation where the slabs won't stack? I store my slabs on a shelf, a given series in a given stack in year/mint order, and I'm afraid that if I stray between companies instead of sticking with one that the series will lose cohesiveness.

 

I'm curious as to how other people deal with this. Is this just an instance of my OCD really limiting me and I should just suck it up? Is there a practical solution that I've overlooked? Or do other people do the same thing?

As others have mentioned, you can keep the slabs in boxes, rather than stacking them (and being annoyed). Far more importantly, those who refuse to consider coins which are in holders other than those of one grading company are unnesceasarily depriving themselves of many great options.

[coinman1794]

Grading services have little to no control over the quality of the coins submitted to them, and you will find GREAT coins in all the top services' slabs. Thus, to buy only one service because their holder is better merely places you at a disadvantage, because you could be completely missing out on a great coin that you never even considered because you didn't like the plastic surrounding it.

 

If you are having stacking problems, use NGC coin boxes instead. All the major holders fit nicely into them, and they are $5-$7 each.

[James_OldeTowne]

I have some old slab boxes that TeleTrade used to ship coins in during the 1980s. They work fantastic. Of course, since the vast majority of my coins are not slabbed, it's essentially a non-issue for me.

 

Edited to add: I have coins from at least six different services or slab-types.

[World Colonial]

I store my coins in a safe deposit box and they stack with no problems whether they are PCGS or NGC. I have almost no coins from any other service.

[Houston Investor]

I use the old Teletrade storage black boxes (more expensive coins I want to display in one section of case like gold or type for a display) and the cardboard boxes without dividers (hold more) where coins are stacked by TPG and every 7 are held together by rubber bands for quick set up at a show. You can stack the nicest coins on top.

 

I just inventory slabs of the major 4 services - I would go nuts from just trying to do one TPG and miss out on a lot of opportunity. I have over 300 slabs.

 

Its simply a function of how many slabs you have to manage and space considerations. Frankly, I think the old TTR storage boxes are the best as they can accomodate slabs of many different sizes.

[RWB]

My humble opinion:

 

Collect what piques your interest and brings you pleasure.

Judge the coins as they are, not as stated on a plastic holder.

Enjoy the hobby and ignore the hype.

 

[Conder101]

I'm afraid that if I stray between companies instead of sticking with one that the series will lose cohesiveness.

Get some superglue, that should give you all the cohesiveness you need.

[astrostu]

Alright, so absolutely no one supports my premise.

 

I guess the bottom-line is that I need to get over it and, if it REALLY bothers me, I can always do a cross-over.

[RI AL]

astrostu.

Hello. My U.S type set has pieces from several different slabbers. (A few I would rather not admit too... What I really like to use for ease of storage as well as easy viewing is the EAGLE certified coin pages. These are clear plastic pages in which the slabs are placed and held securely. 9 slabs fit on a page. For the smaller slabs, little foam adaptors are available to fit around the perimeter of the slab to hold it in place in it's 'pocket". You can check them out at eaglecoinholders.com. The are called "certified coin albums". Actually, you can just order the pages and get your own 3 ring binders. (The zip closed ones work really well.) brent-krueger.com sells the pages at a discount. The pages make a neat, organized presentation for slabs and may well suit your "OCD" needs. No stacking, no need to match slab sizes, (no glue either as someone suggested) These are my favorite ways to display my collections, both certified as well as their (Eagle) really nice rigid plastic 2x2 holders and pages for non-certified stuff.

RI AL

[michael]

My humble opinion:

 

Collect what piques your interest and brings you pleasure.

Judge the coins as they are, not as stated on a plastic holder.

Enjoy the hobby and ignore the hype.

 

(thumbs u

[DC Dawg]

My humble opinion:

 

Collect what piques your interest and brings you pleasure.

Judge the coins as they are, not as stated on a plastic holder.

Enjoy the hobby and ignore the hype.

 

BTW... I have the NGC boxes to store NGC slabs. Others I have in an NGC shipping boxes with the dividers. They work just fine with all slabbed coins. I do have the new ANACS clear box, but it only fits the new ANACS slabs. But I am going to get rid of it and the slabs, too (just 2005 proof state quarters).

 

Scott

[BillJones]

When it comes to slabs I buy the coin, not the slab. I will admit that I limit myself to NGC and PCGS slabs because I use the NGC registry. When it comes to tokens and all buy one of the hundreds of pieces I have are raw. I just can't the use in getting these pieces slabbed. The smaller pieces are in Eagle holders and bound in Eagle pages and binders. It's a neat way to display the colleciton because I make 2x2 cards to put the tokens in categores (e.g. Lincoln, Jackson, pro Union, pro south etc.).

 

I'd be all for more slab companies if they are consistent and had place in the market, but the other companies other than the big two don't qualify for that.

 

As for each slab having a different look, I don't care about that. As for stacking, it's nice, but the difference generations of PCGS holders won't stack. NGC is a little better in that regard, but not perfect. That's just the way it is.

[okbustchaser]

Crack them all out and you no longer have to worry about different size slabs. The coins look better that way anyway.

[Conder101]

The only time different slabs really bothers me is when they are used in an exhibit. I find that having the coins in slabs in the first place detracts from the exhibit because I want to see the coin not a big chunk of plastic with a coin in there somewhere. But then when the exhibit has coins from different grading services and different styles/generations of holders, I think it really detracts from the overall attractiveness of the exhibit. If I was viewing the exhibit as a judge I would deduct points for appearance.

[Houston Investor]

It is difficult to keep all your slabs in the holders of only one TPG unless you like lots of submissions / crossovers and the associated expenses.

[astrostu]

Alright, I gave in yesterday. I went ahead and added an NGC slab to my PCGS-only Ike collection. It's a 1972 TyI MS-65 so it really doesn't come up often in auction. It also looked like a nice, relatively untoned coin compared with what I've seen over the last several months so I went ahead and did it.

 

I guess that's Step 2 in this process of mono-TPG syndrome.

[bsshog40]

I myself have no discrimination between any of the top TPG's as long as the coin fits my collection and budget.

[MikeInFL]

" Your Take on Collecting ONLY from One Grading Company? "

 

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me, personally.

 

I use Intercept Shield double-row boxes and just put the different slabs all together.